Daddy's Little Girl
by Fairyflowerpothead
Summary: Eddie faces one of the hardest days of his life. This is very short let me know if you would like me to continue with it...CHAPTER 3 UP NOW!
1. Chapter 1

Ed sat on Izzy's bed fiddling with the black tie in his hands thoughts of his daughter filling his every moment, it felt like only yesterday when he had walked into the kitchen after one of the hardest days of his life to come face to face with the black and white ultra sound attached to the fridge and Sophie standing nervously in the hall waiting for his reaction..."baby"... was all he could think to say while pulling her into his arms and hold her so tight, his mind in a whirlwind they were starting over again Clark was nearly grown and doing his own thing and Sophie and himself were going back to bottle feeds and diapers.

Closing his eyes he remembered everything about how hard Sophie's pregnancy had been and how he had thrown himself even further into his job as a way of coping with the fear of starting this new chapter in his life, not meaning to he had left Sophie and Clark to get through on their own, and his wake up call had come when Sophie took Clark and did something he had told Greg that would never happen, after 17 years of marriage she left him. He would never forget that first night coming home to an empty house, sitting down on their bed and wondering how it had all gone so wrong.

And on that fateful day when Izzy was born he had been gunned down in the street on the way to the hospital and had come very close to his daughter never knowing her father, the images of that day played vividly through his mind like an old silent movie.

Swallowing the lump in his throat and fighting to get his breathing under control Ed had no idea how he was ever going to get through this day.


	2. The Moon and Back

Memories came flooding back in waves the nights walking back and forth with her in his arms while trying to get her to sleep, the training sessions at home instead of the barn with her sitting on his chest, walking beside the pony on her first ride, her standing on his feet as he danced with her at Spike and Winnie's wedding, teaching her to swim and then the scariest thing of all teaching her to drive. His proudest moment her graduation.

Reaching forward Ed picked a photo up off of Izzy's bedside table, it had been taken at one of Izzy's first school sports days, they had just won the father daughter sack race it showed Izzy in Eddie's arms holding her medal up for him to see even though she was on a few inches from his face, both had the biggest smiles on their faces, hers from excitement his from pride, closing his eyes he could still hear her shouting.

"Daddy, Daddy we won, we won...I have a medal like yours...look...look!"

Kissing her on the forehead Eddie's heart couldn't have filled with any more love and pride if he tried, he still couldn't believe how this little girl kept him grounded and made him see the world in a totally different light, she in many ways had saved him and his relationship with Clark, as this had also changed when she came along, it had made Ed regret all the times he had never been there for him, and he had spent every waking minute from then on making sure that it never happened again and that Clark knew that no matter what was going on his life he would always drop everything for him. Eddie would never forget the day when Clark had been caught in the city's bombings and how he had had to dig his son out of the rubble of the City Hall car park, in all his time as Team Leader of team one in the SRU he had never felt fear like it listening to Clark struggling to breath down the phone and then silence, the thought that his only son had died and there was nothing he could do to stop it nearly sent him over the edge, but thanks to a miracle Clark had survived and Ed was thankful everyday, he had hoped he would never experience that feeling again but with a young child accidents were bound to happen grazed knees and little bumps and his heart had stopped on a few more occasions, never more so then when Sophie had phoned him at work in a blind panic and told him that Izzy had been rushed to hospital after falling off her bike and hitting her head, once again his world stopped, his little girl was serious injured but this time he was totally unable to do anything but stand there and watch the doctors and nurses rushing backwards and forwards administering emergency medical care, but like with Clark someone had smiled down on him that day and Izzy had made a full recovery.

Lost in these memories Eddie didn't hear the door open or Clark calling him, it was only when he placed his hand on his shoulder that he realise his son had come into the room.

Hearing Clark tell him he needed to finish getting ready as it was nearly time to leave Ed just nodded and said that he would be there shortly, knowing his dad was having such a hard time dealing with today he quietly back out of the room and a few seconds later Eddie heard the door close and once again he was alone with his thoughts.

Placing the picture back on the table and letting out a deep sigh he looked around the room remembering all the times when he had to try and squeeze himself onto the small bed so that he could read her a bedtime story or when he had to stay with her the night because of the monster that lived in the closet and she needed her hero to scare it off before she would go back to sleep. He could hear all the years of laughter, the tears, the late night chats when she just needed someone to talk to and all the slamming of doors when it didn't go her way, but no matter what she always came back to him and they always made up over an ice cream chocolate milk shake shared at the kitchen table, he had laughter once when just after she was born Wordy had said to him there was nothing like a bond between a daughter and her father but sure enough he had never felt anything like it and at first it had scared the hell out of him because according to Izzy her daddy could never do anything wrong, she had always looked at him with total unconditional love in her eyes, she never asked anything of him except to love her in return which he did without reserve, Ed couldn't help but smile and wonder how he got so lucky to have two wonderful children and an amazing wife, but now everything had changed and Izzy's routine of always sitting on the bottom stair in the mornings or the evenings waiting for him before he went on shift was now broken and he would no longer sit down next to her as she would put her arms around his neck giving him a cuddle and a kiss telling him she and whichever teddy was her favourite at that time loved him to the moon and back, she would gently rub her hand over his head and wonder off to bed.

Eddie couldn't remember when the curls and bows had turned into perfume and make up or maybe he didn't want to because that way he could kid himself it wasn't real and that he wouldn't have to be letting her go today.


	3. Feelings Are The Same

Struggling to get his turbulent emotions under control and wiping the tears from his eyes, all he could think was that today she was going to change her name, make a promise to another man, and he was going to give her away, staring out the window Ed was totally oblivious to the fact that the bedroom door had opened again and he was being watched from the other side of the threshold, and it wasn't until they spoke that he turned around, standing there staring at her as she asked him what he was thinking,

"I'm not sure, I just feel that l'm losing my baby girl, that you look beautiful, that seeing you in your wedding grown made my heart stop" Ed replies quietly still unable to stop staring at her.

Walking into the room Izzy reached for her father's hand leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Daddy you'll never lose me I will always be your baby girl, I love you to the moon and back, nothing could ever change that"

"But that's the thing Izzy everything is changing and I can't control it, it's slipping away, your slipping away, and I don't know what to do about it and it's scaring the hell out of me" Eddie replied the pain in his voice all to evident.

"Oh Daddy it's time for me to make my own way in the world, you've always protected me, you've shown me the way but this is something you can't do for me, it's not like you will never see me again"

Hearing her words Eddie closed his eyes and shook his head, see him struggling Izzy continued.

"Daddy I couldn't have asked for a better father, I knew I could always talk to you and that you would always listen without judging me, that if ever I got hurt and fell you were always there to pick me up, you taught me so much no just about life but also about myself how to be me and not to take any short measures and I also know the fear with regard to losing someone close because every day you walked out the door to go on shift Daddy it would creep onto my shoulder and sit there until you walked back into the house at the end of the day safe. I will never forget the day when two police officers came to school and removed me from class because you had been gunned down chasing Martin Lockwood and weren't expected to survive"

Eddie looked at Izzy with complete shock written over his face, he couldn't believe she remembered that or the guys name, all of a sudden that day was back with him, he had been downtown off duty shopping for a birthday present for Sophie when he heard a woman screaming that someone was trying to take her baby, and without a second thought he had given chase not knowing all the information but most of all wearing no tac-vest, as he cornered the guy who he later found out to be Martin Lockwood it became clear that he had a gun and before Ed could do anything the first bullet hit him clean in the chest closely followed by a second, then everything went black and the next thing he remembered was waking up 2 weeks later in hospital. Feeling someone squeeze his hand Eddie was drawn back from his memory.

"You didn't think I remembered that day did you?...the day I nearly lost one of the most important people in the world to me, the day I thought you were going to leave me and I would never see or speak to you again, I always knew you had a dangerous job Dad, but that day brought it home to me how dangerous even at that young age"

"I'm sorry sweetheart I didn't know, why didn't you ever tell me?" Eddie asked his voice barely a whisper

"Because I couldn't change it, because if like you today I didn't say it it wouldn't be true, it was like the day I was born only this time I was older and understood the implications, so while you were recovering and every day after that all the time we spend together was even more precious to me, and none more so then today that after everything you have been through I get to have my Dad...my Hero...walk me down the isle and give me away to a man who comes close to being the man my Dad is"

Unable to stop it the dam burst and tears rolled down Ed's cheeks.

"I am so grateful to have you in my life but I'm frightened that once your married you won't have my name and you'll not want to spend time with your old Dad, " Ed said wiping his eyes

"Daddy please do cry no-one can ever replace you and I would never let them...oh god is that what you think"?

Looking straight into his daughter's eyes all Ed could say was that it had crossed his mind, throwing herself into his arms and hugging him as tight as she could Izzy replied

"Daddy, I have and only will ever have one Dad, and he is Edward Tucker Lane Commander of the SRU, my mentor, my friend, my boyfriend profiler, my hero but most of all my Dad, and don't you ever forget it, now let me fix your tie"

Handing her his tie and patiently waiting for to Izzy to finish the task in hand, he stepped back and asked how he looked, with a massive smile on her face she replied

"I not only do I have the bravest Dad in the world but also the most handsome, now I can see why all the girls chased after my big brother"

Unable to suppress a laugh Ed informed his daughter that she was never to repeat that last comment with ear shot of Clark, laughing with him Izzy agreed.

Asking if she was ready to leave they headed towards the door, only to have Eddie to stop short and turned to his daughter he stepped in front of her and kissed her on the forehead.

"I need to tell you this, no matter what I will always love you and be proud of you, I will always be there for you through good or bad"

"I never in life have ever had a doubt about that Dad and never will, and as for changing my name Dad not going to happen I'm a Lane and always will be so after today I'll be Isobel Lane-Andrews"

Unable to stop the biggest smile forming on his face Ed mentally mumbled to himself that's my girl and taking another quick look around his daughter's bedroom he silently closed the door, knowing that his daughter was just growing up and would always love him to the moon and back.


End file.
